Reel flange manufacturing machine

ABSTRACT

A reel flange manufacturing method and machine for simultaneously cutting, shaping and grooving blanks into finished reel flanges.

United States Patent [191 Wood REEL FLANGE MANUFACTURING MACHINE Inventor: Paul R. Wood, 4098 No, 35th Ave.,

Phoenix, Ariz. 85017 Filed: Oct. 10, 1972 Appl. No.: 296,236

US. Cl 144/4, 144/3 R, 144/35.

144/48, 83/809, 144/150 Int. Cl. 1327c 9/04 Field of Search 144/1 R, 3 R, 3 G,- 4, 35,

144/20, 21,150,154,134 R, 136 R, 39, 3 21, 322, 323, 48; 83/409.l, 703, 809

[ Mar. 19, 1974 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,625,186 1/1953 Sayers 83/809 X 2,461,443 2/1949 Rettke et al. 144/48 X 1.882.711 10/1932 Anderson .1 144/150 Primary ExaminerAndrew R. Juhasz Assistan! E.raminerW. D. Bray Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Warren F B. Lindsley [57] ABSTRACT A reel flange manufacturing method and machine for simultaneously cutting, shaping and grooving blanks into finished reel flanges.

10 C1aims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEUMAR 19 I974 SHEET 1 [IF 2 m mv PATENTEDMAR 1 9 I974 3.797.542

sum 2 OF 2 fIE-E REEL FLANGE MANUFACTURING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Heretofore reel flanges have been made one at a time with machinery employing a step-by-step process. Such a process is time consuming and requires a substantial amount of manual labor, thereby resulting in high production costs.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method'and machine for manufacturing reel flanges of various sizes wherein all flanges of each size are identical for perfect cooperation with other flanges when assembling in reel configurations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART It is well known that cable reels have been manufactured of wood for many years. Various machines have been utilized in an effort to reduce the cost of production of these reels to meet competition. Most of the methods and machines used in the manufacture of reels involve a step-by-step process, resulting in high manual and machine handling costs and the loss of a considerable amount of manufacturing time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention claimed, the method and machine disclosed performs all cutting, shaping and grooving operations in transforming a blank workpiece into a finished product in one simultaneous function, thus minimizing the time and labor involved in manufacturing reel flanges.

It is, therefore, one object of this invention to provide a new and improved simplified method and means for manufacturing reel flanges at the lowest possible cost.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine for supporting cutting devices used in the cutting, shaping, and grooving of reel flanges in a manner permitting simple adjustment for the manufacture of a wide range of reel flange sizes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a reel flange manufacturing machine which may be operated by a single operator.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a machine for manufacturing reel flanges which is accurate and foolproof in its operation so that all flanges made of a given size are identical.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a reel flange forming machine which is fast and efficient, providing quality-workmanship and finish in the operations perfonned, thereby minimizing, if not precluding, rejects.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a reel flange forming machine which eliminates the stepby-step method of reel flange manufacturing.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a reel flange making machine which will make flanges two at a time, or in matched pairs, instead of the one at a time manufacture in common use today.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofa reel flange manufacturing machine embodying my invention.

FIG. 2 is an edge view ofa pair of flanges made simultaneously using my invention, with parts in section to show the structural details thereof.

FIG. 3 is a fragmental top plan view of FIG. 1 showing the device in operation.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a complete cable reel made from flanges manufactured using my invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly to the drawing by characters of reference, FIG. 1 discloses a reel flange forming machine 9 comprising a main frame or base 10 which is securely fastened to a concrete pad or floor l 1 after being properly levelled. Frame 10 comprises four legs 12 which support a pair of spaced guide rails 13-13 which carry the movable support 14 for pivotal turntable mount 15, which carries the turntable 16. It can be readily seen that support 14 may be movably positioned in-any suitable location on guide rails 13-13 and clamped securely in place thereon by means of the bolts 17-17 extending through apertures in these guide rails.

A router 18 is also movably carried on guide rails 13-13 by a router mounting means 19 and is movable to any suitable location on the guide rails, where it is firmly clamped in place. The router has a cutter blade 20 for grooving the workpiece, as later described. The router mounting means 19 is vertically movable during the time it is clamped in place on the rails 13-13 by means of an air or hydraulic cylinder 21 to move the cutter blade 20 into and out of cutting position. Only vertical movement is applied to the cutting blade by cylinder 21, thus the router maintains its fixed position relative to the guide rails when the mounting means 19 is clamped in place.

An upper guide rail 22 is supported by frame 23, which is also securely fastened to the concrete pad or floor 11. The upper guide rail is in alignment with and directly above the main guide rails Iii-13. As shown in the drawings, one end of the upper guide rail 22 is supported on the frame 23 by any suitable mounting means which will accomplish the desired result. The bandsaw 25 is also secured to the same common concrete pad or floor 11 as the other parts of the machine in order to ensure proper alignment of all units of the machine.

The upper guide rail 22 carries an upper router 26 which is slidably mounted and adjustably positioned on the rail 22 and may be clamped in any position on rail 22 by suitable clamping means. The upper router is vertically movable only, when in clamped position on the rail 22 by means of an hydraulic or air cylinder in the same manner as the lower router 18.

Also carried on the upper guide rail 22 is a reel flange hold down means 28. This device is also adjustable along rail 22 and is clamped in a given position directly over turntable 16 by means of suitable clamping means. The reel flange hold down means 28 is vertically movable when in clamped position by means of an air or hydraulic cylinder 29. The hold down means 28 has a r0- tatable disc 30 mounted thereon for engagement against a workpiece 31 shown in FIG. 3 directly over and in axial alignment with the turntable. It is deemed apparent that cylinder 29 will apply pressure through disc 30 to clamp the workpiece 31 tightly against turntable 16 so that the workpiece may be rotated by the turntable. The drive means for rotating turntable 16 is enclosed in support 14 and pivotal turntable mount 15. Since such drives are within the skills of anyone skilled in the art, it is not shown in detail.

Secured to the movable reel flange hold down means 28 is a control panel 32 which carries start and stop buttons 3333 for the electric motors employed to ro tate the routers and turntable, as well as levers 34-34 which control the air or hydraulic cylinders 21 and 27 used to reciprocate the various routers.

To finish the outer periphery of reel flanges 35-35 shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 after they have been cut to shape by blade 36 of bandsaw 25, a third or edge finishing router device 37 is provided which is slidably carried on a base 38 of machine 9. Base 38 is also securely fastened to the common concrete pad or floor 11 on which the other units of the machine are supported. In the disclosed embodiment, base 38 is separately mounted on the concrete pad or floor and disposed at an angle to guide rails 1313 and 22 for convenience in construction, although it is deemed apparent that third router 37 may be carried and guided on guide rails 13l3 if so desired.

Router 37 is slidably carried and adjustably positioned on base 38 by means of a stand 39 which provides vertical and pivotal adjustment thereof. As shown in FIG. 1, upper mount 40 for router 37 includes slide or guide rails 41 which permit horizontal movement of mount 40 for adjustment of the position of router 37 by means of hydraulic cylinder 42. A cutter blade 43 is carried by the router 37, the purpose of which is believed apparent.

OPERATION To manufacture reel flanges employing the machine of the disclosed invention, a workpiece 31 is provided for use in manufacturing each of the flanges. This workpiece may be plywood, square in shape, or it may be a member made up of laminations of wooden slats or boards suitably fastened together to form a workpiece of suitable dimensions to make the reel size desired. The dimensions of the workpiece may be equal to the diameter of the flange to be manufactured. Two boards are preferably temporarily secured together to form work piece 31, as shown in FIG. 2, and may be pre-drilled with any holes needed in the finished product such as the central or axial hole 44. Hole 44 is provided for receiving a temporary axle, not shown, for winding and unwinding material from the reel shown in FIG. 4 formed with the manufactured flanges. Jig drilling is suggested for the drilling operation to ensure proper centering of the hole 44.

The axial hole 44 in the workpiece 31 is used to align the workpiece on the reel manufacturing machine 9. The turntable 16 is provided with a stub shaft 45 which is slightly smaller than the diameter of hole 44 in the workpiece. This stub shaft may be slightly cone-shaped to permit easy and fast setting of workpiece 31 on the turntable in a perfectly centered position.

During the manufacture of reel flanges, all machinery drives including the bandsaw 25, the upper and lower routers 26 and 18, and router 37 are constantly operating. The only drive which is intermittently operated is the turntable drive, and this drive is activated by a micro-switch 46, shown in FIG. 3, mounted on support 14, which is engaged by pivot arm 15 when it reaches a stop position directly under the clamp disc 30. As soon as arm 15 is pivoted away from the stop position the turntable drive stops.

When the operator of the machine places a workpiece comprising a pair of boards secured together on the turntable, the workpiece extends over and rests on table 47 of the bandsaw. Table 47 is located in the same horizontal plane as turntable 16. This helps support the workpiece. To provide additional support for the workpiece a caster 48 is adjustably mounted on guide rails 13-13 adjacent router 37.

With the workpiece placed on the turntable 16 and resting on table 47 and caster 48, the operator pushes the workpiece to pivot arm 15 into engagement with micro-switch 46. As the operator starts pivoting arm 15 and workpiece 31, the workpiece engages the bandsaw blade 36, which starts to cut into the workpiece immediately heading for the peripheral point of the circular reel flanges. By the time arm 15 reaches the microswitch 46, the saw blade 36 is at the peripheral point of the reel flange. The turntable drive is then activated to rotate the turntable and workpiece at a predetermined rate so that the bandsaw will cut a perfect circle from the workpiece around the axial hole 44.

As the workpiece is cut by the bandsaw, the operator will actuate one of levers 34-34 to move the clamping disc 30 downwardly into engagement with the top of the workpiece to hold the workpiece firmly during the cutting and routing operation.

A waste wood deflector 49 is secured to the vertically movable portion of the hold down means 28 to be moved into position, as the clamp disc is moved, to deflect cut off wood from the workpiece away from blades 43 of the edge finishing router 37 and into a waste bin 50 as the sawing action continues.

With the sawing action started and disc 30 in clamping position, the operator then actuates another of the levers 34 to move the lower router 16 up into cutting position. He then actuates still another lever 34 to bring the upper router 26 down into cutting position. The depth of cut of these routers is preset, as is the location of engagement with the workpiece to ensure the cutting of grooves 51-51 in exactly the proper position and of the proper depth, width, and circumference required to receive the panels or boards 5252 which make up the core 53 of the completed reel shown in FIG. 4.

After the turntable has rotated the workpiece 31 sufficiently to present the periphery of the flange being cut opposite the edge finishing router 37, the operator actuates still another of levers 34 to actuate the cylinder 42 to move router 37 a predetermined distance on guides 41 so that blade 43 will engage the outer periphery of reel flange 35 being formed. Router 37 will shape the edge of the flange with a smooth finish cut as the workpiece is rotated. The shape of cutter 43 will determine the finished shape of the outer periphery of the reel flanges, as shown in FIG. 2. The inner corners of each reel flange are rounded and smoothed to preclude marring of wire or other material as it is wound onto or off of a reel formed with these flanges. This is important, particularly in handling insulated wire or cable.

The complete process of forming a pair of reel flanges on the disclosed machine includes sawing the workpiece into round discs, routing an annular groove 44 in each flange for receiving members 52 which form the core or drum of the reel, and finishing the periphery of the flanges.

It is deemed apparent that the operator of the machine will be aware immediately when the reel flange or flanges are completely cut and finished, as the noise of the high speed router cutters or blades 20, 43 and 54 will stop as soon as all the material to be cut off has been removed. The operating lever 55 serves to release the pivot arm so that it may be pivoted back to its starting position, thereby permitting removal of the finished reel flanges from the machine. Because router 37 cannot be moved forward into cutting position until the workpiece has been rotated to the degree necessary to present the bandsaw-cut periphery of the reel opposite cutter 43, it can be seen that turntable 16 must rotate the workpiece more than one complete turn, but less than one and one-half turns, to complete the finishing work on the periphery of the reel flanges. By the time the peripheries of the flanges are finished by cutter 43, cutters 20 and 54 have already finished forming grooves 44-44 and the operator can operate the proper levers 3434 to reciprocate them to their inactive, non-cutting position. He can then operate another lever 34 to move the edge finishing router 37 away from the reel flange after it has completed its cutting operation.

The operator then operates another lever 34 to raise the clamp disc from engagement with the workpiece and the completed reel flanges may be removed from the turntable.

From the above, it is deemed apparent that the making of reel flanges is greatly simplified by my method and machine disclosed, and that the cost of production of reel flanges by this method will be minimal. It is also deemed apparent that reel flanges made by the method and machine herein disclosed will be of high quality and of identical character, whereby they can be easily assembled into sturdy, symmetrical reels of high quality and durability.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and other modifications may be made to the apparatus and method shown and described herein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A machine for manufacturing reel flanges from a flat workpiece comprising:

a frame,

a turntable mounted on said frame to rotatably carry said workpiece,

a saw mounted adjacent to and spaced from said turntable to cut said workpiece to a round shape as said turntable rotates, and

a router mounted on said frame adjacent one side of said workpiece for engaging said one side for cutting an annular groove in said workpiece concentric with the cutting of said saw,

said frame affixing said turntable, saw and router in cooperative working relationship to each other.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 in further combination with:

reciprocable mounting means for said router on said frame means for moving said router into and away from engagement with said workpiece.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2 in further combination with:

a second router reciprocably carried by said frame and mounted in substantially opposed relationship to said first router on the other side of said workpiece, and

means for moving said second router into engagement with the opposite side of said workpiece for cutting a groove therein similar to the groove formed on said one side of said workpiece.

4. The structure set forth in claim 3 in further combination with:

a third router movably mounted on said frame adjacent said workpiece, and

means for moving said third router into engagement with the sawed edge of said workpiece for finish cutting the periphery of the flange to a desired shape.

5. The structure set forth in claim 3 in further combination with:

a pivotal mounting arm for said turntable,

drive means for said turntable, and

actuating means for said drive means located on said frame to be engaged by said arm when it is pivoted to operating position to start said turntable rotating.

6. The structure set forth in claim 3 in further combination with:

a rotatable hold down device, and

reciprocable means for mounting said device on said frame for movement into engagement with said workpiece to clamp said workpiece against said turntable while the latter is rotating.

7. The structure set forth in claim 6 wherein:

said saw and said first, second and third routers are operating during at least a part of said manufacturing operation simultaneously.

8. A method for making reel flanges from a workpiece comprising two planar juxtapositioned boards comprising the steps of:

holding said workpiece on a rotatable turret,

moving said workpiece into a saw and rotating the workpiece to cut two circular discs therefrom,

moving a first router into said workpiece to cut an annular groove therein on one side of said workpiece concentric with the saw cut as the workpiece is rotated, and

moving a second router into said workpiece to cut an annular groove in the other side of said workpiece concentric with the saw cut as the workpiece is rotated.

9. The method as setforth in claim 8 in further combination with:

the step of moving an edge cutting router into engagement with the sawed edge of said workpiece after the sawing operation and while the workpiece is rotating to finish cut and shape the edge thereof.

10. The method steps set forth in claim 9 wherein: the concentric annular grooves on both sides of said workpiece are equally spaced from the saw cut. 

1. A machine for manufacturing reel flanges from a flat workpiece comprising: a frame, a turntable mounted on said frame to rotatably carry said workpiece, a saw mounted adjacent to and spaced from said turntable to cut said workpiece to a round shape as said turntable rotates, and a router mounted on said frame adjacent one side of said workpiece for engaging said one side for cutting an annular groove in said workpiece concentric with the cutting of said saw, said frame affixing said turntable, saw and router in cooperative working relationship to each other.
 2. The structure set forth in claim 1 in further combination with: reciprocable mounting means for said router on said frame means for moving said router into and away from engagement with said workpiece.
 3. The structure set forth in claim 2 in further combination with: a second router reciprocably carried by said frame and mounted in substantially opposed relationship to said first router on the other side of said workpiece, and means for moving said second router into engagement with the opposite side of said workpiece for cutting a groove therein similar to the groove formed on said one side of said workpiece.
 4. The structure set forth in claim 3 in further combination with: a third router movably mounted on said frame adjacent said workpiece, and means for moving said third router into engagement with the sawed edge of said workpiece for finish cutting the periphery of the flange to a desired shape.
 5. The structure set forth in claim 3 in further combination with: a pivotal mounting arm for said turntable, drive means for said turntable, and actuating means for said drive means located on said frame to be engaged by said arm when it is pivoted to operating position to start said turntable rotating.
 6. The structure set forth in claim 3 in further combination with: a rotatable hold down device, and reciprocable means for mounting said device on said frame for movement into engagement with said workpiece to clamp said workpiece against said turntable while the latter is rotating.
 7. The structure set forth in claim 6 wherein: said saw and said first, second and third routers are operating during at least a part of said manufacturing operation simultaneously.
 8. A method for making reel flanges from a workpiece comprising two planar juxtapositioned boards comprising the steps of: holding said workpiece on a rotatable turret, moving said workpiece into a saw and rotating the workpiece to cut two circular discs therefrom, moving a first router into said workpiece to cut an annular groove therein on one side of said workpiece concentric with the saw cut as the workpiece is rotated, and moving a second router into said workpiece to cut an annular groove in the other side of said workpiece concentric with the saw cut as the workpiece is rotated.
 9. The method as set forth in claim 8 in further combination with: the step of moving an edge cutting router into engagement with the sawed edge of said workpiece after the sawing operation and while the workpiece is rotating to finish cut and shape the edge thereof.
 10. The method steps set forth in claim 9 wherein: the concentric annular grooves on both sides of said workpiece are equally spaced from the saw cut. 